Search form

Antarctic Weather Stations

What Are They Doing?

Mr. Beckendorf and the team worked on the Antarctic Automatic Weather Stations Project deploying, supporting, and maintaining a network of instruments that take automated weather measurements throughout the year. The data are transmitted via satellite in real-time and the sites themselves require relatively little upkeep. Since the beginning of the project in 1980, there have been approximately 100 weather stations deployed across Antarctica, largely powered through solar energy. The Antarctic Automatic Weather Stations are a very important part of many scientific projects taking place in Antarctica, as these stations provide the only weather measurements available on most parts of the continent.

Where Are They?

The research team was based out of McMurdo Station, the largest base in Antarctica. The team also had the opportunity to travel to other weather station sites outside of the McMurdo area.

Expedition Resources

Overview
Students will undertake a long term project to evaluate the effectiveness of different local forecasters, match the forecast with the actual weather and analyze which forecaster is best.
Objective
Students will compare the accuracy of different weather forecasts. Students will compile and analyze their own data gaining a better understanding of the challenges involved in weather...

Overview
This activity is designed to make a connection between a group of scientists and the students.
Objective
Students will learn that scientists are people too.
Preparation
The teacher will need to contact a group of scientists to make sure they would like to participate in the project and to explain to them the goals of the project. These goals are to develop a connection between the...

Students will calculate and measure out equivalent amounts of water to model the distribution of the world’s water supply.
Objective
Students will be able to compare the amounts of water and the states of water in different geographic locations.
Preparation
This activity shows students the relative amount of the Earth’s water in different sources- glaciers, oceans, etc…
Before beginning the...

## Overview
Students use data and pictures of a destroyed wind sensor, to develop a theory of what happened to the station. They then develop a plan to make sure the station is not destroyed again.
## Objective
Students will be able to use data to develop a reasonable hypothesis.
## Preparation
It would be helpful to give students a brief over view of the location of Antarctica and McMurdo’s...

## Overview
Students will use maps to track the teacher's location.
## Objective
Students will be able to use latitude and longitude to find locations on a map. They will be able to identify locations within Antarctica.
## Preparation
Teachers will need to explain the concepts of latitude and longitude to the students.
## Procedure
1. You will be using these maps while I am gone so keep them in...

Kirk Beckendorf, along with researchers from the University of Wisconsin Madison are based at McMurdo Station, Antarctica and traveling around the continent maintaining automatic weather stations. About 300 students from about 13 states joined the event.

Journals

Meet the Team

Kirk Beckendorf teaches middle school science in Blanco, a small rural school district in central Texas. He has taught life, earth, and physical science to middle school students in both Texas and Oregon. Mr. Beckendorf has participated on a number of research projects over the years and has worked with a variety of scientists from oceanographers to atmospheric chemists. Prior to teaching, he drove stagecoaches in Yellowstone and guided pack trips and whitewater raft trips near Denali National Park in Alaska. He has worked as a foreman and ranch hand on dairy farms in Texas and Alaska. In his spare time Mr. Beckendorf enjoys outdoor activities such as biking, hiking, fly fishing, whitewater kayaking, and blacksmithing.

Shelley Knuth is a researcher at the Antarctic Meteorological Research Center at the University of Wisconsin. Ms. Knuth holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from the University of Wisconsin. Ms. Knuth’s current research interests include precipitation and snow accumulation.

Jonathan Thom is an Associate Researcher at the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin. He received a Masters degree from the University of Wisconsin in Atmospheric Sciences. His research interests include meteorological instrumentation and polar climates. Mr. Thom has worked for the Automatic Weather Station project for seven years and has worked in Antarctica for ten seasons.

George Weidner has worked on the automatic weather station program at the University of Wisconsin since 1981. During that period, he has participated in 20 field seasons in Antarctica and four field seasons in Greenland. His work includes the design, building, maintenance, and processing of data from weather stations for field programs in Antarctica, Greenland, and Peru. Mr. Weidner holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Astronomy and Meteorology from the University of Wisconsin.

This site is supported by the National Science Foundation under award 0956825.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this site are those of the PIs and coordinating team and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.